Union of Babylon
History TheUnion of Babylon (informally, Babylon City or just Babylon) was first conceived of some time in the last decade of the nineteenth century; it was formally declared completed on January 1, 1894, but various pieces of construction continue to this day, and construction and maintenance make up a significant percentage of the city's employment and budget. Governance Babylon is run like a business. At the top of the pyramid (literally, in the highest office in City Tower) sits the Director; the first and current Director of the Union is Charles Goldwater. Under him are the Manager's Board, a group made up almost exclusively of the original Babylon investors; in the last year, non-investors have for the first time qualified for Board seats, and despite some ill-will in the upper eschelons of Babylon society, they were installed without event. Formally, Babylon is run as though it were a share-holding corporation; all citizens of the city pay taxes in exchange for company stock, which affords them privileges and voting rights in annual city-wide referendums. The power that average voters have in comparison to the power of the Board, however, is something of a contested issue Law and Order The Union has its own corporate police force, which handles justice aboard the city. Notable laws include the following: *Selling liquor, absinthe, opium, sexual services, and religious services are all legal, but require Union licensure, and are subject to a higher tax rate than most other commodity or service tax brackets. *All Babylon workers are officially unionized -- "officially" "unionized", rather -- by virtue of being citizen-employees, butBabylon's labor-regulation system is rather unbalanced in favor of the owners, operators, and white-collar workers. Abuses like seven-day work weeks and twelve-hour shifts are illegal, however. Economy The major industries in Babylon are the following: *Airship manufacture and operation: the largest slice of the pie, in terms of labor and of income; Babylon has come to claim the title as the world's airship capital, and is home to the two major construction firms, and the head offices of countless carriers, large and small. Employees might be builders, designers, pilots or air traffic controllers, various crew, or office employees for any of the airship-related companies. *Babylon Itself: Parts of Babylon are still under construction, and a large portion of the work force is engaged in carrying out this labor; If Manhattan is the City that Never Sleeps, Babylon is the City That's Never Done. In addition, many maintenance and aeronautics employees work at every hour of the day, ensuring that the city stays clean, safe, and above all, airborne. *Phone and Radio: On the cutting edge of most areas of technology, Babylon also operates an international telephone switchboard, broadcasts radio programs, and dedicates some of its manufacturing power to telephone and radio devices. *Service Industry: All the onboard services that citizens and visitors require. *Corporate Staff and Law: Not just for the businesses that make their home on Babylon (and there are many), but for the whole world's industrial captains, Babylon operates a law division that offers consulting and services to corporations, worldwide. Major Businesses and Owners Union of Babylon: Charles Goldwater, director. Luftschiff LTD: Premier German zeppelin construction agency. Culture and Life Almost all of Babylon's citizens live in apartments, rather than in stand-alone buildings, even the fabulously wealthy. Almost all citizens who aren't on the Board, or directly related to someone on the Board, also rent rather than own; the Union owns upwards of 95% of property in the city. Home rental costs, however, are relatively sensible as far as cost goes, since the Union has what is essentially a monopoly, and a vested interest in having workers with a place to live. Apartments run the gamut from cramped, shared spaces or single room efficiencies to luxurious penthouses. Most homes do make optimum use of space, however, since there's a finite amount of it, and even a small increase in square footage can mean a hike in price--and can be a significantly more difficult task to secure. Premuim buildings, whether in space allocation or in location, can have exceptionally long waiting lists for open apartments. The same can't be said for food costs, however; Babylon is not a farm. The Hanging Gardens produce some vegetable and fruit, but the city is not, and will likely never be, self-sufficient in that regard. Most citizens who have appropriate space and sunlight supplement imported and Gardens-grown food with their own personal gardens, however small. Nonperishable foods and the basics of survival are costly, but not prohibitively so; but fresh foods, and especially meat and dairy, are items of luxury and great cost. Fish is less expensive, since the Union operates several fisheries in the near ocean below, and the island does have some basic animal, fruit, and vegetable husbandry. Daily Life A very high percentage of Babylon citizens do shift work, which means that a typical day might start at one of several different times; all of the industries have a large shift population, some out of necessity (someone needs to keep the city flying at all times) and some out of interest in catering to clients (on-board service industry, and the Business and Legal offices maintain an all-hours presence to service international clientele). There is no mandated ship-wide day of rest (and no official sanction of religion to motivate that), but workers are entitled to one day off out of every seven, and are encouraged to make that a regular day. Workers who don't have the time, means, or space to cook their own breakfasts can get breakfast from their employer's commissaries, in the case of larger factories or firms, or from one of the many street cafes in Babylon. (The cafes frequently have a very Parisian feel to them, especially the ones that are closer to the Periphery.) In terms of city-wide hygiene, Babylon is exceptionally clean in one regard; there are no draft animals, and only the very committed or the insanely wealthy own pets. Babylon doesn't smell (like many major cities of the period) like offal. Trash is collected and incinerated belowdecks. However, the city does smell of smoke and sulfur quite frequently. As for personal hygiene, it's come a long way, and Babylon is at the cutting edge, but it's not yet met modern standards; hot-water public bath houses are available in most neighborhoods, but many citizens still retain the suspicion that bathing more than once a week is unhealthy. People do brush their teeth daily, however, although fluoride toothpaste is also not around, yet. Aspirin was just invented this year; various narcotic painkillers are still commonplace household items. Prestige and Power Structures Babylon, on paper, is a society of equality, one that marries Director Goldwater's rhetoric about the "level playing field" of the American Dream with an outwardly meritocratic belief system. In many ways, it's ahead of its time: corporations employ women without much comment, and there are very few homemakers or housewives on Babylon; there is no legalized discrimination based on sex or race (but there are no legal protections against discrimination, either). Because employment is the requirement for citizenship and employment is open to everyone on Babylon, the city has universal sufferage beginning at age 15 (the legal age of full-time employment). However, citizens both private and powerful do bring their own personal biases to Babylon, even though the institution has little to say on the matter. Babylon is a self-selecting environment, and many immigrants are forward thinkers and those who want to see a new society. But traditional prejudice is not entirely missing, just much lower in occurrence compared to real-world period instances. Then there's the secret societies, each having a strong belief about the characteristic of most worth in a person, and their push-and-pull on Babylon may be silent, but it is felt. Babylonian society strongly prizes education and wealth, although some figures may feel more strongly about one or the other. Errata Official languages: English, French, and German. Government: Plutocracy, elements of direct democracy. Geography Babylon sits above a small island in the North Atlantic, at roughly the same latitude as Lisbon, Portugal; the city is visible from the ground, and for those who don't arrive via zeppelin, there are a variety of elevation methods. Category:Babylon